


The Coffee Shop

by Statementends (Blueberryshortcake)



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, M/M, Sort Of, Stalking, Web!Martin, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 21:19:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19472422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueberryshortcake/pseuds/Statementends
Summary: Jon and Martin meet in a coffee shop. Does it really count as stalking if both parties have their eyes on each other?





	The Coffee Shop

**Author's Note:**

> Unbetaed

It was stupid.

No it wasn’t stupid--

This was--alright… the thing was…

This is pathetic.

Martin sighed. He sat at the same table he had been sitting at for a week hoping he might come in again. He tried to tell himself that it was because he was like him, or something… adjacent to him. Tried to justify it to himself as fact finding and research. 

He didn’t want to see him again because he was that lonely. 

It wasn’t because of the way his eyes caught on Martin. How he scanned the room and stopped on him and made a beeline.

Rumpled clothes, dark circles under his eyes, strange scars on the few places he showed skin. 

Handsome definitely wasn’t the word… maybe underneath it all. If he hadn’t been so stunned he might have caught him. Tangled a bit of thread in his hair and made him to go home and sleep. He hadn’t even thought of it though after he told his entire tale to the complete stranger without fear or embarrassment. 

Well… not without fear. He felt the same terror. Spiders across his skin. Feeling changed. Knowing he had changed. 

For the last week there were times he’d dream of the man. It was strange though. Like an eye in the crack of the door. Like there should be more intensity to it, but something protected him. Maybe his powers. 

He sipped his tea trying not to let the disappointment soak in. He still hadn’t come. Maybe he really had just come for Martin. To hear his story. 

Seeing him.

Martin wanted to be seen again.

Maybe it was new instinct. 

It wasn’t. Martin, despite being a nice man was good at manipulation. Knew how to tug and where to tug. He knew how to get people where he wanted them, usually by offering tea and biscuits. 

Tea wasn’t the man’s favourite drink though. 

-

Jon stopped short.

In there. 

He stepped inside the cafe without a thought. Scanned around. Startled when he recognised one of the faces--but--

Oh.

Oh. 

That one.

He needed to hear… from them. 

He tried to play it casual. Tried not to be frightening. He’d like to think he wasn’t very good at being a monster, but he was. He was very good at terrifying people without trying. The woman finished and before he could thank her she stood up and left. He frowned. Usually they… stuck around. 

He felt better though. A lot better. He was about to stand when--

Oh. He had forgotten, the man he recognised. 

“Hello,” The man said. He had a round kind face. Big and tall, but not very intimidating and yet Jon was on edge. 

Well, he had heard his story. Even knowing everything he knew now spiders still creeped him out. 

“Ah… hi.” 

“We didn’t introduce ourselves properly last time,” The man continued pleasantly enough. It didn’t seem like he was about to be hit… which was a good sign. 

“Oh uh… well I… yes. Jon.”

“Jon. I’m Martin. You left quickly last time.”

“I ah… I’m not entirely comfortable with spiders…” Jon said slowly.

“Really? I’m not entirely comfortable with telling a complete stranger my trauma without him buying me a drink first, but here we are.”

Jon’s face went hot with embarrassment. “Oh, ah… yes I can understand that…” 

Martin had a weird look on his face that Jon read as disdain, but in reality was Martin realizing he was finding himself faced with trying to decide if this was low standards on his part or if Jon really was as adorable as he was thinking eyebags and all. 

“I uh… won’t do it again?” Jon tried to promise, tried to get up from his seat, but he felt stuck there. 

“Oh no, it’s fine!” Martin said quickly, his own blush appearing on his face. “Or… no, it isn’t fine, but I don’t… I mean… I do… but I…”

“I should go.” He felt panic when he still couldn’t move from his seat, but finally something snapped and he was able to stand. He fled the cafe.

-

Martin banged his head on the table.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. 

-

Jon’s fingers trembled as his tapped his oyster card.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. 

-

Next time Martin found himself a corner. Watched as Jon came in. No hesitation. Like the pull was too great. He watched, fascinated, Jon’s eyes--pretty eyes, definitely pretty eyes-- devoured the man in front of him as he told him his story. What a strange… power? Martin still wasn’t quite sure what he was. The term monster had crossed his mind, but he had decided that was a bit too dramatic.

Human adjacent? Previously Human? Metahuman? It was a bit like a comic book. There had been no one to explain it to him. Not in detail. All of it was guesses and experimentation. If he had anyone to confide in he might have made a spiderman joke…

Hero wasn’t the word though. Definitely not. He  _ was _ hurting people. Even if they were… nasty people… the gym teacher that had humiliated him and made him cry in front of his entire grade. His former supervisor who had been stealing money from the register and had blamed him. Got him fired. It had been almost impossible to get a job after that. They deserved this… they deserved his webs and they deserved Jon prying it out of them… 

He knuckles went a little white. He should probably be more afraid for himself… but it was nice to win for once.

He pulled his thread and Mr. O’Conner left leaving Jon and two cups of tea. Martin smiled fondly. Jon had bought Mr. O’Conner tea for his statement. 

He jerked up a little noticing Jon was staring at him. A pleasant shiver ran down his spine. He wanted to approach again, but wasn’t sure what to say. Something like: Hey, I’m like you, there’s no need to be worried about it. Or: I know you don’t like spiders, but they’re actually quite neat if you get to know them. Or something like: Please don’t stop looking at me. 

Yikes Martin, alright. 

Tentatively Jon stood, as if testing that he would be able to. With a bit of disappointment Martin let him. He knew he could… do as he liked with people… that if he wanted he could string Jon over and talk to him more, nothing really was stopping him. It wasn’t like he hasn’t … experimented a little, nothing too terrible, just cutting queues and stopping the bus from leaving before he got to the stop. 

And… maybe having the posh looking man at the bank withdraw a hundred pounds and give it to him… 

He had checked his statement first though! Made sure he could afford it… he just… he was a bit behind on money for mum.

Everything felt so… within reach now. 

He watched longingly as Jon left the cafe. Could still feel his eyes on him. 

Who was really watching who?

-

He found Martin was watching him. It was strange. Being able to actually spot the person watching him for once. The Eye was always there of course, and Elias he was sure kept close watch. He never saw them though. But Martin was watching him. 

He rubbed the back of his neck. Felt himself watching right back even though he’d rather not at the moment. Curiosity tingled, who was he? What was he? Why was he always here and why were there always statements? 

Web statements. 

He tentatively stood, but found he could move just fine. Memories of Mr. Spider clawed at the periphery. He left, still pondering the cafe and Martin, and what any of it might mean. 

-

He was … enjoying it. He couldn’t bring himself to feel ashamed though. Watching Jon… eat? It was… a sight to behold. And it  _ was _ like his powers in some ways. Jon asked questions and no one would deny him answers.

Martin tried to grab tables that would have the best angles of Jon’s face. He would always be absorbed in the stories told to him, his face mirrored the terrifying scenes. Like he was afraid. Feeling their fear, but it was fueling him. He always looked so much healthier after hearing the stories. Like how Martin felt better tugging at people’s lives and pulling them in different directions. He was getting better at that. He had even found a person with a story that wasn’t about him. Jon had seemed surprised. Had glanced at him afterwards. 

Martin forgot how wonderful his direct gaze was, being on the edges for the past fortnight. 

He watched as Jon slowly approached him. Tentative and shy. He felt his own wave of nerves. It was easy to forget that he could control any situation at the snap of his fingers. He wondered what would happen if Jon asked him questions. How would it affect him. 

“You’re… doing this, right? The… statements.”

“Statements?”

“I… yes. That’s… that’s what they are,” Jon explained. It seemed like he expected Martin to know already. 

“Are you a police officer?”

“You… don’t know who I am?” Jon looked more relieved than anything, although there was a new worry surfacing in his pretty brown eyes. 

“No clue. Should I?”

Jon shook his head. He nervously tapped the table with his long fingers. Working up the nerve to do something. 

“I just…--why are you doing this?” And suddenly his fidgeting was gone, his tone was deep. Martin could feel a pleasant sort of static run across his forearms. 

And he told him.

“I have a crush on you. I like the way you look at me.”

“W-what!?” Jon’s voice went higher, all the power in his tone gone. 

“Oh that was…” Martin’s face went fire hot in embarrassment. He hadn’t meant to say that. Really he should have saw it coming, but he had thought it only worked with fear. “Sorry! Don’t--don’t run off!” 

But Jon was looking to do just that.

Martin caught him with threads. 

“Stop it.”

“You did it to me first. Just… just stay put for just a moment. I’m--I’m not going to hurt you or anything.” 

“You’re from the web.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

Jon frowned. “You aren’t lying…” 

“I just thought… we have a lot in common. I’d like to get to know you, Jon.”

“This could be a trap.”

“You have a magic power that can pull the truth from people. Are you really worried about being lied to?”

“You’d be surprised…” Jon said softly. “So you...you’ve been doing this… bringing people here? Those stories are about…”

“Uh… me… yeah. Well… mostly.”

“Because you have a…”

“Crush uh… yeah.” Martin laughed awkwardly. He realized he was holding his threads tightly. If he let go now he might not see Jon again. 

Jon looked embarrassed and unsure.

“What?” Martin asked quietly. 

“I… I’m not exactly… the type people get affectionate over… especially from afar,” Jon answered. “And you’re so…” He blushed, looked to the side. “Well, you could obviously do better so I--”

“Do better?” Martin squeaked.

“Ah--” Jon’s voice was panicked. “I mean… you are… you’re very…” He coughed. “You’re cute.” 

“You think I’m cute!?” Martin didn’t know whether this was encouraging or not. Considering he was becoming some sort of spider monster maybe it was a good sign. 

“Could you--could you maybe let go? I--I promise I won’t leave it just… it makes me--I’ve had bad experiences with… spiders…” 

“Oh…” Martin hesitated, but slowly let his webs fall slack. Jon took a calming breath. He didn’t run. That was encouraging. 

-

Martin asked if they could meet again and Jon agreed. 

His instincts told him to run and run and run. And maybe it was Martin pulling him back against his will without his even knowing it… but… no. He would  _ know _ .

Honestly this was a terrible idea, but it was…

Nice.

A normal sort of nice, even if he wasn’t normal anymore, even if Martin wasn’t a normal person. Martin admitting with a blush on his face that he had a crush was… a nice feeling and he wanted to explore it. 

And Martin wasn’t human… but that meant he couldn’t hurt him. 

He had hurt a lot of people by now. Starving was too hard. Fighting against himself was too hard. He was alone--no, worse. He had Elias who whispered in his ear and was so pleased when he let go another little part of himself for knowledge and the Eye.

And he’d be lying if part of all this wasn’t curiosity. Wanting to know Martin, this … web avatar that doesn’t quite know what he is. Wanting to know the type of person that finds Jon… alluring? 

Jon held his head in his hands at the thought. No. Alluring was not the word for any of this. This was silly. He had so many terrible things to worry about. Why was he doing this to himself?

“Jon?”

“Oh! Martin--right.” Jon put down his hands and sat up straight. Martin smiled at him affectionately.

“Did I catch you by surprise?”

“Usually you’re here first.” 

They decided to meet again at the coffee shop. Jon had shown up an hour early because if he hadn’t he would have paced in his office. 

“Usually I have to set everything up, it’s nice to have the free time… it’s nice to see you came.” Martin added shly. 

Jon nodded, played with his fingers. “I… yes, well… I was curious… and… you seem…”

“Nice?” Martin supplied with just a tinge of bitterness. Jon felt the knowledge click into place in his head. Martin had never been a popular boy, but he had never been particularly bullied. Just a neutral person in the background that the people around him found pleasant. “Nice.” 

Nice was a word you used when you didn’t know a person at all, at least that’s what Martin thought. Jon had always thought of nice as a nice thing, but with a wave he knew how Martin felt about it. Unseen. Alone. 

“No, I--” Jon said quickly. “Interesting...you seem interesting.” 

Martin perked up just a little at that. 

“I mean,” Martin laughed. “I guess nice isn’t really the word for something like us now, is it?”

“No, not really, although I don’t think anyone would call me nice even before.”

“Ah have you always been interesting then, Jon?” Martin teased.

“Er, well, more of the odd one out. I don’t… do people very well.”

“But you talk to them a lot now.”

“To feed off their greatest fears. It doesn’t exactly win friends.”

“It got my attention,” Martin smiled. 

They talked for… longer than Jon had thought. It was getting dark outside and their drinks had grown cold. Martin was an interesting person. Jon even told him a bit of what he knew of the Web, the other powers… more than he had meant to maybe, but something in him trusted Martin--maybe trust wasn’t right. Liked. He liked Martin.

Oh. He liked Martin. 

Elias wouldn’t be pleased.

Jon smiled. That could only be a good thing really. 


End file.
